Pellet implant systems which administer hormonal medicaments subcutaneously are known. Typically, they use a dosing gun to administer a series of pharmaceutical pellet implants, usually to the ear of an animal to provide sustained release of medicament. A dosing gun or implanter usually incorporates pellet magazines containing multiple doses of pharmaceutical pellets which are inserted subcutaneously into the ear tissue with an associated injection needle. The magazine channels are loaded with a series of identical pharmaceutical pellets for administration at the same injection site.
Implant technology, that is to say, procedures involving subcutaneous implants of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, are now well accepted and widespread in the areas of animal health and production enhancement. Growth stimulants are commonly used to enhance the body weight of animals which are raised for slaughtering, such as cattle, swine, sheep, turkeys, chickens and the like. A medicament in the pellet is normally formulated for continuous sustained absorption of the active ingredients over an extended period of time.
Solid dose ballistic projectiles shaped for penetrating the epidermal layer of living animal tissue are also known. These are typically fired remotely, using an airgun. They lodge totally within the tissues of the animal for later release of biologically-active medicaments into the animal tissue. They have an advantage over typical hand-held implant apparatus using a needle in that the inoculated animal need not be “captured”.
This invention may be used with either type of solid dose administration, but has been found particularly useful with hand-held implant administration, more particularly where combined dosing of a plurality of biologically active materials is achieved with a single needle-inserted, subcutaneous implantation. For details of such implant systems, see my previous patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,363, issued Sep. 9, 1997, and as well, other prior patents on pellet implant systems, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,098, issued Feb. 23, 1999. Disclosures of each of these are incorporated herein by reference.
Particularly, when animals are multiply dosed, it is necessary for the medicament administrator to keep track of medicaments, and of which animals have in fact been dosed. This can be particularly bothersome when multiple dosing of a medicament occurs with a single subcutaneous implant, or shot, in the case of a ballistic implant. This invention has as its objective a new method, packaging and system for keeping track of and systematically administering a plurality of medicaments to animals so that the operator, or medicament administrator, can be confident that all desired medicaments have in fact been administered.